The University of Iowa today launches a major marketing drive.
Campaign facts:
• Broadcast TV spots will run on 27 network affiliates in seven media markets servingIowans.
• Radio spots will run on seven major news talk stations and the statewide Radio Iowa network.
• Ads will appear in print newspapers across the state.
• Video and audio spots will play on Hulu and Pandora, while both video and display ads will appear across the web.
• Social media hashtag #TheUforIOWA will identify campaign-related posts.
The campaign combines advertising, outreach visits, and social media to help tell the university’s story more widely. Spots will begin appearing today on television and radio stations across the state, as well as online. Campaign-related posts will appear with the hashtag #TheUforIOWA. Newspaper ads, billboards, and signage at shopping malls, airports, and event venues will follow.
The university also plans to reach people through an expanded presence at the Iowa State Fair and on RAGBRAI. Faculty and staff will make presentations in communities across the state—22 such talks are scheduled into the fall—and the university’s admissions staff will line up visits to every high school in Iowa.
The university is seeking to grow its enrollment after several years of maintaining the size of its student body while it concentrated on rebuilding facilities after the flood of 2008. In the years since, the UI has focused on student-success initiatives that have helped boost its retention and graduation rates.
Additional incentive to grow comes from the Iowa Board of Regents’ new funding model, which will base 60 percent of state funding on resident enrollment.
The marketing initiative uses the phrase “for IOWA” to underscore the university’s fundamental mission of statewide service and its role in shaping Iowa’s future.
A new UI video ad will appear on Iowa broadcast stations, cable systems, and online.
“We want to remind Iowa families what our university is all about,” says UI President Sally Mason. “We offer outstanding academic programs, we conduct research that adds to our state’s wellbeing and prosperity, and we have a rich history of serving Iowans everywhere.”
Radio ads will air on stations across Iowa.
While this phase of the marketing campaign is focused within the state of Iowa, Joe Brennan, UI vice president for strategic communication, says plans are underway to expand it to other regions.
“We want to recruit more students from other states and other countries,” Brennan says. “They bring tremendous talent and diversity to us, and many remain here in Iowa to build their careers.”
Click the images below to launch a slideshow of other sample messages:
